Changing Woman

    Article

    According to Navajo mythology, it is on Earth, full of beauty and balance, that First Man and First Woman have a child, Changing Woman, also known as White Shell woman or Asdzą́ą́ Nádleehé in Navajo. She is associated with sacred items that represent speech and thought, both of which are in a medicine bundle that Changing Woman inherits. Changing Woman is the mother of the Hero Twins, Monster Slayer and Born for Water. She is also the benevolent being who creates the first Navajo of the four original clans and corn and is therefore known for bringing fertility and regeneration into the world.

    Photo Credit

     
    "Painting of a Sandpainting of First Man and First Woman," photograph by Gerald Nailor, 1936, Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 163.

    Term Type
    References

     
    Gill, Sam D.
         1983    Navajo Views of Their Origin. In Handbook of North American Indians. A. Ortiz, ed.
             Pp. 504-505, Vol. 10. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Washington

    Klukhohn, Clyde and Dorothea Leighton
         1946   Navaho. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Nez Dennetdale, Jennifer
         2001   Representing Changing Woman: A Review Essay on Navajo Women. American
             Indian Culture and Research Journal 25 (3):1-26.